Zhi Dong dong (public number: zhidxcom) author | Edited by Li Shuiqing | Heart edge
Zhidong reported on March 3 that after Apple, Intel, Google and other technology companies announced the cut off of supply to Russia, today, database giant Oracle (Oracle) and enterprise service provider SAP company have also announced the suspension of services in Russia, further forcing Russia to the edge of isolation in the field of technology business.
Oracle cut off supply to Russia, and the deputy prime minister of Ukraine thanked it for its support
Since the Military Conflict between Ukraine and Russia on Feb. 24, Ukrainian executives have been writing emotional letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and about 50 other tech executives, asking them to sever diplomatic relations with Russia.
The U.S. government, which is far away from the ocean, has issued a renewed ban, requiring the cutting off of technical supplies to Russia in many aspects, including microelectronics, telecommunications programs, sensors, navigation equipment, avionics, marine equipment and aircraft components. Earlier, the New York Times reported that White House officials said that European Union members, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand had also announced plans to impose similar restrictions on technology exports.
Russia has hardly spoken out about this, because Internet social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which control the voice of global social media platforms, have long "banned" them.
At present, not only the Internet giants Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, streaming media giants Netflix, Roku, Tiktok cut off the russian communication caliber, mobile phone giants Apple, PC giants HP, Dell, auto giants BMW, General Motors, Volvo, etc. are all out of supply to Russia; more in-depth level, including Oracle, SAP and other enterprise cloud service providers, as well as all electronic information equipment services at the bottom of the chip factory Intel, AMD, TSMC and other companies, Both have imposed restrictive actions against Russia.
Although the spearhead is not aimed at China, it makes many Chinese people feel a sense of urgency and crisis - technology companies originally have borders, when this day happens to us, can we afford it?
First, cloud giants: Oracle, SAP suspended Russia, the alarm bell sounded
Oracle and SAP officially cut off supply to Russia, causing a wave in the cloud computing circle.
This morning, Oracle's state media tweeted: "For the benefit of Oracle's 150,000 employees around the world, and in support of Ukraine's democratically elected government and ukrainian people, Oracle has suspended all operations in the Russian Federation." ”
▲Oracle official media voiced a suspension of service to Russia
Oracle is the absolute oligarchy of global databases, storing valuable data assets for many businesses around the world. For enterprises that adopt cloud computing products such as Oracle Database, once the service is cut off or the data is lost, the consequences are unimaginable.
Even as Oracle's state media news was still being hotly debated, SAP, the provider of enterprise management solutions, also took action. CEO Christion Klein also said: "We are now suspending our operations in Russia to comply with the sanctions, in addition, we are suspending the sale of all SAP services and products in Russia. ”
▲The notice of suspension of Russia on SAP's official website
Compared with consumer electronics such as Apple and automobiles, the supply of cloud services will have a more substantial impact on the industry. The outage may cause the business of customers who rely on this service to suddenly stop, and the migration of business requires a certain time cost. Although the supply cut occurred abroad, the domestic industry people were also shocked, and could not help but ask, will the foreign cloud services we use be cut off one day?
On the one hand, the restrictions imposed on Russia by It companies in Europe and the United States have alerted many domestic industrialists to the uncertainties that may face in adopting foreign cloud services; on the other hand, a group of local players have also seen new opportunities to replace them. For example, on the domestic social media platform, some insiders immediately took the opportunity to promote their own products, shouting out the slogan of "one-click migration of Oracle database, welcome to consult and order".
Second, the Internet, streaming media giants: Google Meta and others will "ban" Russia
In fact, this "wave" of group restricted actions launched by the US technology circle against Russia has lasted for nearly a week.
How did the "wave" roll up?
We found that from the first day of the Ukrainian-Russian military conflict, several Internet giants restricted the voice of Russian state media through major social media. Russia first lost its "say" on the eve of this wave of sanctions.
First, on February 28, Facebook restricted some Russian state media accounts. In fact, on February 25, Russia restricted access to Facebook due to Facebook censorship and tagging of Russian media.
Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta (a company owned by Facebook), said on social media on Monday: "We have received a number of requests from governments and the European Union, and given the peculiarities of the current situation, we will temporarily restrict the entire EU from seeing RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik (satellite news agency). Then, social media Twitter took action.
▲ Post by Nick Clegg, President of Meta Global Affairs
ByteDance's overseas product, TikTok, has also followed In Meta's footsteps. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed that Today Russia and satellite news agencies are no longer able to publish content to an AUDIENCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION.
Then, on March 1, local time, Google's video sharing site YouTube announced that it would restrict Russia and satellite news agencies from publishing messages. Previously, YouTube banned some Russian state-run media accounts and deleted thousands of "violations" of videos.
Google announced a ban on Russian state media
In addition to the internet giants, streaming provider ROKU removed Russia Today tv from its European channel store on Tuesday; Netflix said on Monday that under new laws the company would not release some state-run channels in Russia, while Netflix had suspended all future acquisitions of Russian projects.
Russia has been silent for nearly a week in the U.S.-controlled global media environment, and while politicians and business companies have dominated the wave of sanctions against Russia, public opinion has not been entirely one-sided. On Twitter, a social media tweet that also silenced Russia, we saw a huge number of civilian forces making "I support Russia" voices, and today it landed on the hot trend of US Twitter.
▲ Support for Russia topics on social media Twitter
Consumer electronics giants: Apple stops selling, Xiaomi also carries pressure?
In the case of the Russian media in the global "silence", on the social media of Europe and the United States, the "letter of help" of the Ukrainian leader can be seen everywhere.
On Feb. 26, for example, Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, demanding that Apple support U.S. sanctions against Ukraine following its military action against Ukraine.
▲ Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov wrote a letter of help to Cook
Yesterday, Apple officially announced the suspension of product sales in Russia, which is another restriction measure after Apple restricted the use of the Russian App Store and removed the Russian news app from the overseas App Store. This means that customers in Russia can no longer buy Macs, iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices, and existing devices become "bricks" and tiles. ("Wake up today, Russians can't buy 'apples'"))
▲ It is not possible to buy goods on the Apple Store online store in Russia
At present, apple Russia's Apple Store online store is still accessible, but it is not possible to purchase goods, and the page says "App Store store closed in a short time" in Russian. Apple's suspension measures have landed in the official online channel.
Like Google, they have disabled "traffic" and "live incidents" in their maps apps to prevent Russia from using it to get information about Ukraine.
Other smartphone makers may also be under pressure to act, including China's Xiaomi. According to Bloomberg on March 1, local time, a US official said that any company that uses US products and technologies is subject to the ban on Russia, including Chinese semiconductor and electronics companies. For example, Chinese technology companies such as Xiaomi and SMIC may be affected by the ban and join the sanctions against Russia.
Bloomberg reported that the restriction ban could affect Chinese companies
In addition to the mobile phone giant, the PC giant has also been involved in this storm. According to foreign media cnBeta, PC giants such as Dell have cut off supply to Russia. In addition, on March 1, HP CEO Enrique Lores also announced that the company has joined the ranks of global sanctions against Russia and suspended exports to Russia.
Fourth, auto giants: BMW GM and other supply cuts
In addition to smartphone and PC manufacturers, some European and American car companies have also suspended their business in Russia.
On Monday, February 28, Swedish automaker Volvo announced a moratorium on shipments to the Russian market, becoming the first international automaker to restrict Russian supply. Volvo, which comes from Russia for about 3 percent of its sales, sold about 9,000 cars in Russia in 2021.
The company said in a statement that "there are potential risks associated with trading materials with Russia, including sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States."
Subsequently, including GM, BMW, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover, Germany Daimler and so on have suspended the delivery of cars to Russia. "The current global environment also presents us with trade challenges, so we are suspending the delivery of vehicles to the Russian market and continuously monitoring the situation on behalf of our global customer base." Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement. "Due to the current geopolitical situation, we will stop local production in Russia as well as exports to the Russian market." German automaker BMW issued an announcement on Tuesday.
In addition, South Korea's Hyundai Motor's St. Petersburg plant in Russia was shut down for five days, but Hyundai officials said the shutdown was due to a shortage of chips that led to a supply disruption and had "nothing to do with Russia and Ukraine."
Fifth, chip giants: Intel, AMD, TSMC "card neck"
The more "upstream" supply cutoff Russia faces lies in the underlying semiconductor technology behind smartphones, cars and Internet service devices.
According to foreign media reports, due to the new sanctions rules in the United States, chip giants such as TSMC, AMD, and Intel have suspended the delivery of products to Russia, and GF, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and other manufacturers also need to comply with this regulation, or also ban sales in Russia. ("The U.S. has dealt with Russian chip supply!") 》）
According to Reuters, TSMC said in a statement: "TSMC complies with all applicable laws and regulations and is fully committed to complying with the new export control regulations announced." "As of the writing of Zhidong, the official websites of Intel, AMD and other companies have not disclosed relevant statements and details.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released details of export restrictions on new russian industrial technologies, and the United States added new licensing requirements to the Commercial Control List (CCL), including microelectronics, telecommunications projects, sensors, navigation equipment, avionics, marine equipment and aircraft components.
BIS unveiled details of export restrictions on new technologies for Russian industry
It is worth mentioning that the document actually points out that personal communication terminals are not restricted and can be sold to ordinary consumers "out of the ordinary".
At present, the list of technology companies that have launched restrictions or cuts on Supply to Russia is still being refreshed.
Conclusion: Science and technology have no borders, but there are "double standards"?
At present, many large companies in the field of technology, including smartphones, automobiles, semiconductors, cloud services, and the Internet, have launched restrictive policies against Russia. This can't help but make people wonder, is technology really borderless?
Uncertainty in the world is intensifying, and although we strongly oppose the trend of anti-globalization, the tree wants to be quiet and the wind is not stopping. This makes us have to wake up, what if these things happen to us? Can our indigenization power be sustained?